Issues with N3510

Just a few issues i have with the N3510 so i just want to check whether other N3510 users have these issues as well.

1. When i charge my battery after draining it, the battery level indicator first starts blinking red, then orange and eventually green as it gets fully charged. After reading the user guide, it says blinking red means there is something wrong with the battery. Do other users experience the same colours blinking when they are charging?

2. Is the optical drive built in to the N3510 unable to read DVD+R video? I have tried 2 brands of DVD+R and tried playing video i burnt from my dvd-recorder but the notebook did not recognise tha any discs were in the drive.

Cheers.

 

about the second question. What brand/model do you have in it. Is it a mat****a?

 

Hi qwester,

Yes, thats the brand. I believe its the UJ-831s model.

Cheers.

 

Matsh*tas drives are crappy drives, my opinion of course. I know because I owned one, the UJ-812. The burn quality is not very good and the are picky on media. You could try some different discs or contact Fujitsu see if there are any firmware update available. Matsh*ta only make OEM drives, so you won't get any help from them. If you are not moving it much an external desktop drive will offer much better quality and burn speed. If you need something more portable, a laptop drive in a case is a good option. I would hignly recommend the NEC ND-6650. I have the slightly older ND-6500. The burn quality is excellent.

 

I agree with zazonz about the brand, that's why I asked. I had one in the past and it was just pure trouble (mostly with CDRW media for me). They never make their firmwares available online although an update might exist (shipping with newer models)

 

A few Matsu****a (parent company of Panasonic, Technics, National) external drives I've owned have been excellent.

 

Hi guys thanks for the replys.

Just back on the question of batteries. My battery is very new, yet i fully charge it without using it, then two days later it had dropped to 75% capacity. Is this a normal discharge behaviour or is there something wrong with my battery?

Cheers.

 

I noticed the same thing on mine. But I also noticed that the subwoofer emits a very low hiss (have to put ear against it to hear it) even when the unit is off. The hiss goes away when I remove the battery. So I assumed that on mine the speakers (or at least the woofer) are always powered, and hence the battery drains pretty fast when not plugged! Don't know if you have some simillar issue on yours.

 

I posted the same issue a couple of months ago. Here's the thread :-
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=21391

I truely believe this is a design issue, as even with the notebook totally off, the battery will be dead in about 2-3 days. I have reported this to Fujitsu, along with the non-functioning ExpressCard and they just blew me off, as in there is no problem, go away and leave us alone!

FYI we are developing ExpressCard modules at work, and have several serious issues with the ExpressCard implementation on the 3510. They are all related to BIOS and PCI enumeration, and could be easily fixed with a BIOS update. The changes needed are actually required for the machine to be spec compliant with the ExpressCard spec (owned by PCMCIA.org), but Fujitsu are still shipping non-compliant machines.
Be aware that any future ExpressCards you buy that use PCI bridges will not work on this machine, so you are SOL at present.

I have to say that Fujitsu is possibly one of the worst companies to try and escalate a problem. They do not seem to have any 2nd tier support people, and their first line support people are next to useless. Anyone notice that they have not produced a single update on the Fujitsu web update site, since the 3510 and 3511 were introduced? Just pathetic...

Finally I have written a letter to Fujitsu headquarters on the Battery and ExpressCard issues, asking for a resolution or a refund of the notebook, as I find it incredible that a company like Fujitsu could ship a machine with such basic flaws. I am still waiting for an answer.

- Tim

 

My N3510's battery drains in the same fashion. Let me know what they say about it....

 

I've never used the battery..Geezz if that's the case then the battery is no good.

No wonder why they sell the N3510 here $1500 under recommended retail price.

I'd also like to find out what fujitsu says about the battery. Also any of you N3510 owners out there have the trouble with the remote control? Finding it abit stupid cos all you can use it with is with the power dvd and the volume control and nothing else?

The design with where the speakers are placed were also a problem i've noticed after I bought the notebook. You know while you're listen to music and typing at the same time? you arm would actually cover the majority area of the speakers which means u can't hear anything.

I've actually sent a letter/email to Fujitsu telling them about this and their response was. N3510 is a multimedia pc the speakers were designed to be placed there so the sound travels. I was like WTF ? man what a lame excuse.

 

No answers so far, I guess they have decided to ignore difficult customers who actually find problems. I will post it registered next time....

- Tim

 

Hei guys, Ive bought the N3510 too, its been doing well for me, but there is one issue... In the Instant My Media, I tried to play videos that are placed in My Videos folder by using the Playback Mode, but the only thing thats there to view is that short fujitsu video. Can anyone help me please...???? Id like to just be able to turn the instant my media and watch the pre recorded files when im bored...............................

 

About the drive -

I found that the Sonic software that comes with the N3510
would crap out burning certain types of DVD media. When
I switch to Nero to do the same thing, it worked fine...

So it may not be 100% a H/W issue.